NASA Activates Roman Coronagraph for 3 Months of Exoplanet Imaging Tests

3 articles · Updated · Science@NASA · Sep 1

NASA powered on the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope’s Coronagraph Instrument on Sept. 1, completing the activation in 55 minutes from 7:27 a.m. to 8:22 a.m. EDT.
The instrument is designed to block starlight with optics, masks, mirrors and sensors so Roman can directly image faint planets and dusty disks around nearby stars.
A monthslong calibration campaign comes next before full science operations, with 3 months of planned coronagraph observations spread across the mission’s first 18 months.
Roman’s visible-light imaging is meant to push beyond the hot, young super-Jupiters seen so far, targeting older, colder giant planets in closer orbits while the telescope also hunts planets through microlensing and transits.

Sources

Science@NASA52d ago

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Launching a New Era: Roman Space Telescope’s First 100 Days, Exoplanet Imaging, and the 20-Petabyte Data Revolution

Overview

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope launched on August 30, 2026, and began a carefully orchestrated journey to the Sun-Earth L2 point. During its three-month commissioning phase, the team activated and tested key systems, including the advanced Coronagraph Instrument, which uses deformable mirrors to block starlight and directly image faint exoplanets. Early test images and calibrations ensured the telescope’s instruments performed as expected. By late 2026, Roman achieved 'first light,' setting the stage for its five-year science mission. The mission’s open data policy and cloud-based tools will enable global collaboration, helping astronomers explore the universe’s structure and search for new worlds.

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